Most people today take photographs on their holidays, and many more use photography to record their families and interests. But various concerns inhibit naturists from doing the same. These pages attempt to deal with those concerns, as well as giving some hints and tips intended to help the naturist photographer towards more satisfying results.

Whereas cameras are a common sight at non-naturist leisure events, they are comparatively rare at naturist clubs, resorts, beaches and venues. Sometimes this is because the site has a rule against photography without specific permission, but more often it seems to be because photography of naked people is regarded with suspicion. Unlike some attitudes to and within naturism, this one seems to be fairly uniform around Western Europe. This means many potential photographers are reluctant to take naturist pictures in the first place. Another inhibition is the assumption that processing laboratories either won't handle naturist material, or will report any sight of nudity in a customer's snaps to the police. By following some simple guidelines, all these fears should be allayed. Once you've got used to taking naturist photos, you can relax and start to think about taking better photos.

Just to make some points absolutely clear from the start:

• Taking pictures of other people in a public place is not against British law unless it is likely to cause offence or a breach of the peace.

• Taking pictures of naked adults and children is not illegal in Britain nor, as far as is known, in any other European state. (But there are some aspects of naturist child photography that may be problematic.)

• Photos which include nudity are not automatically considered obscene in British law, and there is no restriction on their being sent through the post by individuals and photographic laboratories.

• Anybody who takes a photo where others object to that behaviour cannot be surprised if the objection is expressed forcibly.

• Anybody who takes obscene or pornographic photos under the guise of naturist photography cannot expect to be treated as a naturist and probably won't find anything in these pages to help them in their objectives.